Corri
by Islandwitch
Summary: After the battle of Camlann, Camelot continues as usual (well... almost) and a young woman is given an opportunity to be more than just a farmer's wife. AU.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: This is mostly told from the point of view of Corri; an OC (but a few other POVs may slip in too). Spoilers for all 5 seasons are possible, and definite for the show's finale. Speaking of the finale... hmm, well it didn't quite happen like that in this story! You'll be able to tell what was different pretty quickly and this is basically an AU continuation (feel free to assume no one died, I'm not saying they're all still alive (Merlin totally killed Morgana, that was my favorite death scene ever! So no changing that) or will play a part in this story but I'm still writing it, so who knows! Just don't be surprised if Mordred shows up._

* * *

**The village of Murton**

I always watch the knights as they ride by on patrol, it doesn't matter whether it's raining or the sun is so hot it burns my face, I just want to be close to them for one second, it's the nearest I'll ever get to riding, training, and fighting beside them, not because I'm not of noble blood (the King has knighted commoners before) but because I'm not a man. Mother always says I'm such a lucky girl, and in some ways I guess I am, but as a well-off farmer's daughter my future is pretty much planned for me; marriage to a local boy, raising chickens and then children, growing old (well... hopefully, that's one thing that's never sure), and dying right here where I started. The whole thing makes me want to both cry and kick something. The one thing that made it tolerable was my older brother, he trained in sword fighting with the local blacksmith and when we weren't doing our chores he would show me what he had learned and eventually he started to actually teach me, he reasoned that everyone should know how to protect themselves from bandits and Mother reluctantly acquiesced but he and I both knew it was more than that for me, the feel of the sword in my hand felt so natural and it wasn't long before I started to beat Myres in our mock duels. Myres encouraged me to study with the blacksmith and every day I practice with the sword he left when he rode to Camlann, the battle is the stuff of legend now, how King Arthur and his men fought so bravely, how Emrys commanded lightning to come down from the sky, how King Arthur was gravely wounded, and how his manservant Merlin not only saved his life but was revealed to be the great warlock; Emrys. It's been four years since then and I still hurt every time I think of the day Myres left to join King Arthur's army, he came home only once and it was during that visit that he was called up to go to Camlann, it was also the last time I saw him, we'll probably never know what happened to him.

* * *

Finishing my chores early means I can run down to the village and continue my lessons with Sudol the blacksmith, he always smiles when he sees me and asks if I've been practicing even though he knows not much could ever stop me. Today we spent an hour in his yard, the sound of metal crashing together is enough to draw any child not working and we usually have an audience for most of our workout, they like to cheer us on and sometimes we teach them a trick or two. After our last duel we stopped to stretch and I smiled when one little girl shyly asked me to teach her how to properly hold the little knife her father gave her. It had been a good day and I was feeling euphoric as I walked home, there was to be a tournament in Camelot in honor of Queen Guinevere's birthday and Sudol had offered to take me with him so I could watch it, I knew Mother wouldn't approve of me traveling so far with just Sudol but the offer still thrilled me and I thought with some clever wheedling I might be able to talk her around and if not... well, they'd never say no to a knight of Camelot...

* * *

**Camelot**

Gwen's laugh echoed in our chambers as she pushed back the curtains and the early morning sunlight seeped into the chilly room, I groaned a bit and tried to hide beneath the pillow but she grabbed it away.

"Arthur! You have a meeting in just twenty minutes, and don't you want to eat breakfast with your wife?" she put a hand on her hip and mock-glared at me.

The look on her face caused me to chuckle and she leaned in to kiss me, it would have led to more than just breakfast if Merlin hadn't come bursting in the door.

"Don't you ever knock?" I asked, exasperated even though I knew he never did.

"You're going to be late, no scratch that, **we're** going to be late if you don't get up. I don't think the lords will be happy if they're kept waiting and I'm not facing them alone again!" he said, giving me a very real glare.

I chuckled again as I remembered Merlin's very first meeting as more than a servant, I'd been late and the lords had been anything but kind to him, still... I'd enjoyed it from my vantage point behind the door, especially when Merlin had finally let them have it with the worst and most sarcastic tongue-lashing any of them had probably ever had. But we both knew that wasn't really a possibility anymore, the people of Camelot had not only adjusted to the new laws on magic, but even the nobility had learned to treat Merlin with the respect he deserved (and admittedly still never really got from me, I wouldn't tell him this but I appreciated him all the more because our relationship hadn't changed any and he still seemed like the incompetent but wise and loyal manservant/friend he'd always been).

I swung my feet out of bed and pointedly looked at Merlin, "my manservant isn't here yet so I can't get dressed"

His eye roll was classic and pronounced but he proceeded to the wardrobe and began pulling out shirts. Gwen shook her head at us as we kept the banter going and eventually I was dressed and sitting at the table with my wife. Merlin pulled a chair out and began helping himself to our breakfast.

I paused as he shoved half a roll into his mouth, "doesn't Gaius ever feed you?"

He shrugged, "sure, but it's a long time 'til lunch!"

* * *

**The village of Murton**

The morning was half over when I put my plan into action, I knew the man I was looking for would be at the tavern, every other month when the patrols came through our town the tavern would get a boost in business, mostly from the locals coming to hear one knight in particular who always told such good tales when he got drunk (to be honest he was the only knight that ever actually drank anything, the others mostly avoided the tavern), When I entered the dark room I saw him sitting in the corner talking to some of the local farmers whose wives probably thought they were in the fields. The men laughed coarsely and for one second I debated on turning right around but the knight looked up and saw me.

"Lads, it appears a lady is looking for one of us" he said to the men, his dark eyes twinkling when I said I wanted to talk to him.

We walked outside and he leaned casually against a fence as I took a deep breath and launched into my planned speech.

By the time I'd finished the knight was trying hard not to laugh, "You said your name is Corri right?" he asked.

"Yes" I replied, lifting my chin a little to look him squarely in the face.

"Ah hm, well a knight cannot refuse to help a lady" he stood up straight still smirking, "why don't we go visit this Sudol and then I'll talk to your parents, you'll be perfectly safe traveling with our patrol back to the castle".

Just two hours later it was settled, I'm going to Camelot!


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Spoilers for all 5 seasons are possible, and definite for the show's finale. _

_Thanks to Castofmerlin for your review! I really appreciate the feedback :) _

_I should probably point out that despite some of this chapter this is NOT a romance, romance will happen though. Canon couples are safe, but since that's really only Arthur/Gwen and (in my mind at least) Merlin/Freya, everyone else is up for grabs._

* * *

**The Road to Camelot**

The road to Camelot wasn't overly long, three days journey and we were only another day's ride away, something I was very grateful for! The knights were a rather subdued lot, I wondered if they were always like this or if it was just because there was a girl traveling with them. At least Sir Gwaine (the knight who had helped convince my parents) wasn't as solemn as the rest, in fact he was incredibly talkative and kind of mischievous, I caught him playing more than one prank on a couple of the other's, specifically Sir Leon and Sir Percival who were easily the nicest next to Sir Gwaine. Sudol seemed to fit in perfectly and at night he and one or two of the others would mock-spar for practice, I was never invited to join them but that wasn't surprising, I doubted any of the knights knew I could actually use the sword hanging on my saddle.

On the morning of the fourth day we were just getting ready to leave our campsite when Sir Leon held up a hand and everyone went deathly still. I couldn't see or hear anything, not even birdsong, the lack of which might have been what alerted Sir Leon to the trouble. Suddenly about thirty-five men burst out of the trees to our right, the knight's swords were in their hands quicker than I could see and the clashing of metal on metal filled the little clearing. I knew I was no use on horseback, I'd never trained on one and I wasn't about sit around like a helpless little girl so I dismounted and met one of the men head-on as he charged towards Sudol. Fighting for real was so different from fighting Sudol and I was suddenly filled with doubt that I could defeat this man, but as soon as our swords clanged together all thoughts vanished and I moved fluidly as the adrenaline flowed through my veins. The man I was facing dropped suddenly as I struck him in the chest, I didn't have time to think about the first man I had ever killed because another quickly took his place, I realized even more men were joining the first group and I hoped against hope the tales of knights really were true because our group was made up of only 15 knights, plus Sudol and myself. I suddenly heard a shout over the crowd of fighting men and Sir Gwaine and his horse pushed their way to my side.

"We're beating a strategic retreat" he said to me as he dispatched the man on his left.

I nodded and when he held out a hand I jumped up behind him.

* * *

The knight's were regrouping in another clearing nearer the river, and Sir Leon dispatched Sir Palomedes to ride to Camelot and inform King Arthur of the situation. I was afraid for a minute they would send me with him to get me out of the way, but Sir Gwaine winked at me and put a finger to his lips and I realized Sir Leon had forgotten about me in the heat of battle and his haste to send word to the king. Sudol certainly hadn't forgotten me but he only looked at me long enough to make sure I wasn't hurt and then he fell into conversation with Sir Leon and Sir Lucan about strategy and whether we should remain here or ride towards Camelot to meet the men King Arthur would surely send. Since I couldn't help them I decided to make myself useful and fetch some water from the river, as I stood on the bank I realized my long blonde hair was coming lose from it's twist and I'd lost the pink embroidered white ribbon I usually wore in it, the ribbon was my favorite as my mother had embroidered the pink roses herself and it was far fancier than what I normally wore, so much so in fact that it clashed with my coarse wool dress. A tear escaped my eye and I lifted a hand to wipe it away.

"It's okay to be upset" came a soft voice from behind me.

I knew without turning that it was Sir Gwaine.

"You fought well, this was your first battle though wasn't it?" he asked coming to my side and turning me gently to face him.

"I lost my hair ribbon" I said with a choked voice as more tears fell from my gray-green eyes.

He cocked his head at me and I knew I didn't have to explain that I wasn't crying about the ribbon, it was just all I could focus on, all I _wanted_ to focus on.

He turned away from me and began to fill the water skins, giving me enough time to dry my eyes and compose myself some before we began to walk back to the clearing.

"You never did tell me why you're so set on seeing the Queen's tournament" he said.

I shook my head shyly at first but after a moment I began to tell him of my training with Sudol, I even told him about my brother Myres. I thought if there was one knight that wouldn't laugh at my ambitions and would understand about my brother it would be Sir Gwaine, and he didn't disappoint, he nodded at all the right places and bowed his head when I told of Myre's apparent death.

"We lost a lot of good men then" he said quietly.

We finished the walk in silence until we reached the outer edges of the clearing.

"I'm not sure even Arthur would allow a woman as a knight" said Sir Gwaine suddenly, then he smiled "but if anyone could do it... well, lets just say I'd bet on you"

The ghost of a smile graced my own lips as he turned and made his way towards the group at the center of the clearing, it included Sir Leon and Sudol so I knew they were still discussing our options. I just hoped that the men that attacked us wouldn't find us again before reinforcements could reach us. My hope was unfulfilled as Sir Percival appeared.

"They're coming!" he roared and my eyes widened as I realized they _weren't_ coming, they were _here_.


End file.
